Party list calls for probe of LTFRB officials over missing documents

Over the weekend, Aangat Tayo party list representative Neil Abayon called for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for admitting it could not locate the accreditation papers of Uber and Grab. He also called for responsible officials to be placed on preventive suspension.

Continue reading below ↓

"Baffled, bothered, and bewildered, but not surprised I am with the revelation and admission by the LTFRB that it lost application documents of TNCs (transportation network companies) and TNVS (transportation network vehicle service) filed in the past administration," Abayon said in a statement.

"It simply and clearly proves the intensity of the gross negligence of not just the top officials of the LTFRB, but even of the middle level managers and rank and file responsible for the recording, processing, and safekeeping of those files," he added.

Continue reading below ↓

Recommended Videos

Abayon says that he and his party list suspect the LTFRB has been "buying time and delaying all they could ever since they realized they have lost the documents."

The LTFRB and Department of Transportation (DOTr) responded to Abayon's statement via Facebook post yesterday, saying that the claim the LTFRB lost the documents is not true. According to the post, the aforementioned papers were lost by the previous administration, and that there was no proper turnover of documents "including the accreditation papers of the TNCs."

Continue reading below ↓

The post goes on to say that the documents "do not have anything to do with the imposition of cap in the application" for TNCs. According to the DOTr, the main reasons for the cap in applications were "issues of accountability" such as fare surging, and to make sure TNCs "contribute their fair share of taxes to the government." Illegal parking was also cited as a reason.

The post ended with both agencies expressing their willingness to engage in talks with Abayon in order to further clarify matters.

In response to the Facebook post, Abayon says he is putting his call for an investigation on hold pending talks with the agency. He added though that the LTFRB's admission that it had lost the paperwork "does not instill public confidence that they are properly executing their institutional mandate," and that the applications of Uber and Grab drivers now hang in the balance.

Continue reading below ↓

"The riding public is concerned that if Uber and Grab are not accredited because of those lost documents, then their only other taxi option are the conventional taxis, whose poor services have been rejected when riding patronage shifted to the TNCs which offer better services," he says.

Also Read

Over the weekend, Aangat Tayo party list representative Neil Abayon called for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for admitting it could not locate the accreditation papers of Uber and Grab. He also called for responsible officials to be placed on preventive suspension.

"Baffled, bothered, and bewildered, but not surprised I am with the revelation and admission by the LTFRB that it lost application documents of TNCs (transportation network companies) and TNVS (transportation network vehicle service) filed in the past administration," Abayon said in a statement.

"It simply and clearly proves the intensity of the gross negligence of not just the top officials of the LTFRB but even of the middle level managers and rank and file responsible for the recording, processing, and safekeeping of those files," he added.

Continue reading below ↓

Abayon says that he and his party list suspect the LTFRB has been "buying time and delaying all they could ever since they realized they have lost the documents."

The LTFRB and Department of Transportation (DOTr) responded to Abayon's statement via Facebook Post yesterday, saying that the claim the LTFRB lost the documents is not true. According to the post, the aforementioned papers were lost by the previous administration, and that there was no proper turnover of documents "including the accreditation papers of the TNCs."

The post goes on to say that the documents "do not have anything to do with the imposition of cap in the application" for TNCs. According to the DOTr, the main reasons for the cap in applications were "issues of accountability" such as fare surging, and to make sure TNCs "contribute their fair share of taxes to the government." Illegal parking was also cited as a reason.

Continue reading below ↓

The post ended with both agencies expressing their willingness to engage in talks with Abayon in order to further clarify matters.

In response to the Facebook post, Abayon says he is putting his call for an investigation on hold pending talks with the agency. He added though that the LTFRB's admission that it had lost the paperwork "does not instill public confidence that they are properly executing their institutional mandate," and that the applications of Uber and Grab drivers now hang in the balance.

"The riding public is concerned that if Uber and Grab are not accredited because of those lost documents, then their only other taxi option are the conventional taxis, whose poor services have been rejected when riding patronage shifted to the TNCs which offer better services," he says.